Aston Martin continues to transform the new site into a bespoke, new, production facility.

• Contract exchanged by Aston Martin and Welsh First Minister
• Construction of ‘Phase I’ of Aston Martin’s new St Athan facility commences
• Aston Martin SUV to start production in Wales in 2019

Phase 1  of Aston Martin’s new manufacturing facility at St Athan in Wales received the green light when Aston Martin President and CEO Dr Andy Palmer met Welsh First Minister, Rt Hon Carwyn Jones AM to finalise the sale of the St Athan site to the British luxury carmaker.

In February 2016, Aston Martin announced that it had chosen St Athan from 20 potential global locations as its second manufacturing facility as part of a £200M investment in new products and facilities. 

A recruitment drive this summer began the search for up to 750 new Aston Martin employees who will work at the new facility, a number of whom have already begun their training, building the new DB11 at its Gaydon Headquarters.

Aston Martin President and CEO Dr Andy Palmer commented: “The exchanging of this contract, giving us first access to the St Athan facility, is a milestone in our 103-year history. Work now starts in earnest to turn our plans into reality.

“Since taking the decision to build our first SUV in Wales we have been impressed with the commitment and approach from both the MOD and the Welsh Government in making this project work. We continue to work with the Welsh Government in areas like recruitment to ensure we are able to meet our project timescales.”

With contracts now exchanged, Aston Martin has now commenced work on ‘Phase I’ of the St Athan site which includes the creation of the customer and staff reception areas, administration and management offices and the employee restaurant. The contract for these works was awarded to local Welsh firm TRJ Contracting beating off competition from a number of larger national companies.

‘Phase II’ will commence in April 2017 when Aston Martin will gain access to the three Ministry of Defence ‘Super Hangars’ that will house the new manufacturing facility.

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones said: “We are delighted that Aston Martin has chosen to locate its new manufacturing facility here in Wales. The move is fantastic news for the Vale of Glamorgan and surrounding areas, and will provide a real boost to the local economy, resulting in thousands of high quality jobs both within Aston Martin and the wider supply chain.

“We have worked closely with Aston Martin throughout this process and I am proud that our joint hard work and co-operation will result in some 750 of our skilled workers building the Aston Martins of the future.” 

Secretary of State for Wales, Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP, said:“Aston Martin choosing Wales sends a clear message to leading global companies around the world that Wales is open for business.

"We have created the ideal conditions for economic growth, which helped attract this unique and innovative car manufacturer to South Wales. Today's announcement reflects the excellent infrastructure, a world class talent pool and businesses that have the confidence to expand in Wales.”

The Rasa is a unique lightweight two-seater car with a range of up to 300 miles on 1.5kg of hydrogen.

• The Rasa is a unique lightweight two-seater car with a range of up to 300 miles on 1.5kg of hydrogen
• It’s designed from a clean sheet of paper to run on hydrogen and has a completely different architecture to conventional cars
• It has the lowest carbon emissions for any vehicle 'well-to-wheel', and water is the only output
• Public Beta trial of 20 vehicles with prospective customers proposed for later this year
• Car expected on the market from 2018 through a “sale of service” ownership model which is the first of its kind

Riversimple Movement Ltd is pleased to announce the unveiling of the “Rasa”, a road-legal engineering prototype of its first two-seater hydrogen powered road car, built for full European type approval.  

Supported by a £2m grant from the Welsh government in 2015, every aspect of the Rasa has been tailor-made and interrogated for lightness, strength, affordability and safety, to produce a vehicle that will maximise hydrogen as a fuel source and minimise pollution.

Riversimple will offer the car to motorists through its unique “sale of service” model. For a fixed monthly fee and mileage allowance, similar in expenditure to leasing and running a new family-sized hatchback, the company will cover all repair, maintenance, insurance and fuel expenses.  Customers will never actually buy the car and experience the burden of depreciation; they will simply exchange or return it at the end of the ownership period.  

Led by Riversimple’s Founder, Hugo Spowers, the Rasa has been engineered by a highly-skilled team from some of the world’s most renowned carmakers, Formula 1 teams and aerospace engineering companies.  Its elegant and clean lines have been styled by Chris Reitz, one of Europe’s leading car designers.  With a total kerb weight of just 580kg (nearly half of a small car), it features a carbon composite chassis and only 18 moving parts in the entire powertrain.  Furthermore, Riversimple will adopt an open-source approach to its technology and componentry to encourage the proliferation of its technology and economies of scale within the sector.

When the vehicle is in motion, hydrogen passes through the small 8.5kW fuel cell (the size currently used in forklift trucks, equivalent to 11hp), where it combines with oxygen to form water and electricity to drive the motors positioned in each of the four wheels. More than 50% of the kinetic energy produced under braking is recovered and turned into electricity to boost acceleration via a bank of super-capacitors.  The result is a range of up to 300 miles on 1.5kg of hydrogen, estimated fuel economy equivalent to 250mpg, and a top speed of 60mph.  At around 40g CO₂/km, the Riversimple car has the lowest carbon emissions for any vehicle 'well-to-wheel', and water is the only output.

Starting later this year, following funding to match a €2m EU grant, Riversimple will be conducting a public 12-month Beta trial of 20 Rasa prototype cars as part of the continued development of the first full production model which will come to market in 2018.  It will be offered to individuals in a strategically planned phased roll-out by region in order to support a low risk, commercially practical introduction of profitable hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

Hugo Spowers, Founder of Riversimple Movement Ltd, said: “The Rasa engineering prototype marks another key milestone in bringing an affordable and highly-efficient hydrogen-powered car to market. We really have started from a clean sheet of paper.  The Rasa gives us the opportunity to introduce customers to a more convenient concept of motoring, a lightness of ownership that neither places a burden on the pockets of motorists or the surrounding environment.  The car is simple, light and fun in every respect.”